Shi’ites and the Free Zakzaky trek to Abuja

Correspondent Abdulgafar Alabelewe reflects on the Shi’ites Movement’s planned trek to Abuja to press for the release of their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Yakubu El-Zakzaky. He also chronicles the lamentation and plea of his son, Mohammed Ibraheem in a recent open letter.

For those who know members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as the Shi’ites Movement, it is easier to conclude that trekking in form of agitation for one right or the other is their trademark, which people of other faiths and sects in the Northern part of the country have had to contend with in the last few decades.

Members of the movement, usually clad in black dress are known for trekking in their thousands, including women and children from major Northern Nigeria cities to Zaria, at least once or twice a year. One is usually in commemoration of its annual Quds Day protest where they condemn Israeli’s occupation of Palestine.

Concerns have however been raised over the proposed trek by members of the sect to Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja to further press home their demand for the release their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Yakubu El-Zakzaky, who has been in security custody for more than eight months.

The Nation learnt that, members of the Islamic Movement has since the arrest of Sheikh Zakzaky staged several protests in Kaduna city to ask for his unconditional release. Their demand however appeared to have fallen on deaf ears hence the resolve to take it to another dimension.

The Shi’ites’ latest strategy may also not be unconnected with Zakzaky son’s latest outburst and emotional open letter over his father’s condition in security custody.

30-year old Mohammed Ibraheem El-Zakzaky had said, “In an unusual twist, the custodians/captors/detainers of my parents, the DSS claimed that my father, is being kept in “protective custody” “because he is a vulnerable individual” and according to their lawyer, it is the DSS’s duty to provide protection to vulnerable citizens!

According to him, “Adding salt to injury, they further claimed to have spent five million naira on his health alone. It is unbearably hard enough that I’ve had to watch helplessly as they killed all those innocent people, including my three remaining brothers.

“But this claim was the worst affront to my sense of self, more painfully insulting than all before it. Ever since the statement was made, I have made several attempts to type a response. Each time I begin to type, my fingers shake from excess of wrath, anger, despair and the all too fresh realisation of the truly unbelievable depths of insincerity, hypocrisy and cruelty.

“I always think and question the humanity of the cabal that masterminded the Zaria massacre. How can it be rationally explained that we share the same taxonomy as this brutal breed of beasts wearing the uniform of the Nigerian army, who executed this inhuman massacre?

“This is a most grievous insult, the gravity of which is unfathomable to say the least. Although, my parents are not being held in a prison cell, they are certainly not living in a comfortable state, nor are they ‘Safe.’ In the eight months since the ‘Nigerian Army’ killed and secretly buried over a thousand people, including my three brothers, my aunt and a lot of the people I hold most dear, while also shooting my mother 7 times and depriving my father of an eye, as well as crippling his arm and leg. The DSS, which claims to be “protecting him” has also denied him access to his doctors, legal counsel, and has only allowed us to visit only when it suited them.

“In the past eight months, I have driven to Abuja several times, only to be turned back. Yet these people have the rudeness to post my picture in the media to give credence to the idea that all is well, insulting us in the most cowardly of ways. I am thirty years old, I earned my first five million Naira when I was still a university student, yet my own father the one who brought me into this world, after being so injured, physically, emotionally and worst of all deprived of even the most basic of human rights, is being charitably expended upon with five million naira (gratitude for the generosity of the masters of murderous beasts).

“As his sight continues to fail day by day, the DSS continues to refuse, under the guise of bureaucratic excuses, our request that a known qualified doctor be allowed to attend to him. And then there is the visitation rights. In eight months, I have only been allowed to visit four times, but we have been stood up in Abuja for twice as many times. Then there is the fact that even though my father is currently incarcerated, it is he who pays for his expenses down to the fuel for the generator in the place where he is being held, not to mention the extortionist behaviour of some of the agents in charge of handling my parents.

“In our fourth and final visit, which was yesterday, they brought in a professional camera man sporting a nice SLR (Single-lens reflex Camera or; Fancy Cameras in Short) to rudely take more of these propagandist pictures designed to deceive the people about the true nature of what is going on, I’m sure you’ll be seeing them in the papers soon enough.

“Then there is his health, specifically the health of his last remaining eye, which is already half blind. The attending single doctor, whose name and qualification I do not know, nor has the DSS informed me, has already arbitrarily and single-handedly proscribed one of his eyes as lost for good, without recourse to a second opinion.

“Granted, in my father’s own words, he does “appreciate” the doctor’s efforts and the courtesy of certain members of the DSS; I for one am not grateful, I cannot be. I deserve answers; we all do. If the DSS that is a Government organisation of fundamental importance, is proudly insulting me by claiming to be spending five million naira on my father; Ibraheem Zakzaky has a son, who is alive and willing to spend multiple of that amount (and I can afford it). But I cannot, because the opportunity to do such … is blocked by the ‘Dutifully Protective Custodians.’ DPC. (Death Prospecting Cooperation)…

“I want to call all those who believe in the inalienable right of all human beings to fairness, justice and dignity, to help by joining me in a redoubled effort. We must protest this seemingly never ending series of outrages; we must make our voices heard. We must act before it is too late. We must demonstrate wherever we are able. I for one will walk alone on my two feet from my father’s house in Zaria to Abuja if I have to, I will sit in front of any office for as long as it takes, I will stop eating and drinking for as long as it takes.

“As God is my witness, there is no time. My father needs access to doctors now! Right Now! As God is my witness, I swear that having survived the unthinkable, my father is currently being wearied down into a blind man. He is being slowly crippled, destroyed. Compliments of the DSS and co. (But) enough is enough. Post the dammed pictures; make all the lies; but do not insult us. Let us send doctors, let us save my father’s eye,” he said.

THE TREK

Although, a section of IMN members, particularly women had last week embarked on a similar foot journey from Zaria to Abuja, the security authorities have vowed to prevent the acclaimed proposed mass trek of the Shi’ites to the FCT.

The Shi’ites women who branched Kaduna on their journey to Abuja last week told newsmen that their mission was to seek Zakzaky’s release, so that he can get proper medical attention.

It was later gathered that the women took their protest to the National Human Rights Commission’s office in Abuja, but never bothered to locate Zakzaky.

The protesters who were chanting, ‘free Sheikh Zakzaky’ condemned what they described as ‘continuous detention’ of their leader in the custody of Directorate of Security Service (DSS) since December 2015.

Speaking on behalf of the women, Fauziya Saidu, said the protest will continue until their leader is released unconditionally to avail him the opportunity to seek proper medical treatment. She alleged that military personnel along Zaria-Kaduna road were busy taking their photographs on their way to Kaduna the purpose of which they did not know.

According to her, “most of us here are widows and orphans. We are only demanding that our leader be released for medical treatment. We will continue this match to Abuja and we will not leave until our Sheikh, his wife and others are released.”

She said “If they are really protecting our leader as their lawyers have claimed, then we would want to ask them what form of threat is the visit of family members and doctors, considering the impending and dangerous situation threatening to turn him blind…?”

THE SECURITY

The acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris has however assured that the police will take actions to ensure that there is no breach of security by the members of the sect as they plan the mass trek.

The IGP who spoke through a Deputy Inspector General of police (DIG), Habila Joshack, while receiving anti-Shi’ite protesters in Abuja recently, said the laws of the county respects the religious rights of every citizen, but that such rights should not be abused.

The IGP equally vowed to apply appropriate sanctions on any protester who fails to abide by the laws of Nigeria.

An anti-Shi’ite trek protesters under the auspices of Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace (NIFROP) had earlier told the IGP to immediately act to forestall ‘whatever mayhem’ IMN members were planning.

Another Non-Governmental Organisation, Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism ((CATE) at a press conference in Abuja last week condemned the plan, saying it poses security risk.

The group’s National Coordinator, Mr. Gabriel Onoja urged security operatives to immediately prepare to manage the situation in order to avoid what happened previously between the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai and the sect.

IMN react

The President of Media Forum, Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Musa Ibrahim in turn has accused security operatives of planning to attack IMN youth trekking from Zaria to Abuja to demand the release of the group’s leader.

In a statement he issued last week, the movement’s spokesperson alleged that the security operatives were planning to attack the youths, adding that some weapons would be claimed to have been found on them.